Causing diabetes!

Using nail varnish or hair spray may increase women’s chances of having diabetes as a team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston High-maintenance has claimed to have found a link between phthalates, a class of chemicals found in these products, and the metabolic disease.

Study authors from Boston have also found link between high concentrations of the chemicals and insulin resistance among women, a precursor to Type 2 diabetes.

2,350 American women aged 20 to 80 participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2001 and 2008, and went through physical exams and provided urine samples. Of all the participants, 217 were found to be having diabetes.

The study found that women, who had the highest levels of mono-benzyl phthalate and mono-isobutyl phthalatein in their urine samples, were nearly twice as likely to have diabetes as women with the lowest levels of those chemicals.

On the other hand, women with moderately high levels of the chemicals mono-n-butyl phthalate and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate had approximately a 70% increased risk of diabetes. The study took into account other factors like consumption of calories by the women participants.

The researchers concluded, writing in the Environmental Health Perspectives, that it was possible that the man-made chemicals, that can mimic the body’s natural hormones and are found in plenty in products like shampoo, soap, nail varnish, hair spray interfered with the fat tissue’s metabolism and therefore leading to insulin resistance, increased the risk of diabetes.

Therefore, study authors have warned that it is necessary to avoid exposure to such chemicals as much as possible.

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